This thing about Obama and ObamaCare

Bill Auth-Pool/Getty Images President Obama: He can't be beaten with Birther nonsense

This has been an ongoing saga. In quenchless venom, Republicans had been dying to douse the much hyped ObamaCare. But when the Supreme Court found it constitutional enough, the target switched back to the person behind it. Endless outpourings that continue to be insipid and predictable... a cyclical repetitive quality that makes one leery of its credibility.

Latest to join the fray has been Forbes with its column on how doctors would burn out once new insured patients get included in the health care system. While one will not rule out added responsibilities on us physicians, once the 30 million insured patients enter the system, the temptation to call it an adverse effect of Obamacare is silly and twisted.

But first Dinesh D’Souza. I am not sure what common colonial roots the filmmaker claims to have with the President. One was born of pure Goan catholic parents in a Hindu dominated nation, the other born of mixed nationalities that truly dissolved nationals boundaries.

One arrived in the United States with preconceived thoughts of conservatism at an adult age; the other travelled all over since 2 years of age. Thus to me, the reasons for Dinesh D’Souza not becoming anti colonial seem as wayward and officious as his presumed thoughts on President’s anti colonialism. It actually puts all of us in trouble, when you realize that once upon a time two thirds of our world was colonies. So much for skewed philosophy and rushed filmmaking.

Back to Forbes and its sentimental concern for us physician’s ‘burnout’. Rather than harping on the perils of an ObamaCare, how do we tackle this quagmire of more patients and less physicians? Let’s look at it objectively.

Truth be told, we do need fundamental changes in our education system if we are to tackle this inevitable, impending ‘burnout’ phenomenon.

I strongly believe that we need to shorten our educational period of time. A cursory look into other Asian, European and South American medical education system tells us that most countries do not include such an elaborate pre medical educational course. A full blown bachelor’s program may not be necessary. Such courses can always be integrated in the medical curriculum even if it means expanding the school period by a year or two. That way we save time and more importantly we relieve the financial burden on the student.

Second, let’s strive for more private medical schools. It will not hurt our standards if we maintain proper integrity in our medical learning. In the end we all have to go through the standardized steps of the United States Medical License Examinations (USMLE), no matter where we are from, an Ivy League institute or a Caribbean school.

Third, since we realize that the entire emphasis is on the production and productivity of primary care physicians, we must be proactive in creating more physician assistant programs. Large parts of primary care are and can be effectively handled by Physician Assistants.

The silver lining in the cloud is the fact that we are beginning to be aware of these avenues. And awareness is both the first step and the fulcrum of patient care. It is only ethical and complimentary to take good care of a nation’s health. Sensing unfounded diabolical and anti colonial motifs is deliberately sinuous and hypocritical.